Despite claims of abuse in 2005, Los Angeles County officials allowed boy to stay in home, records show

Los Angeles County officials in 2005 investigated allegations to its Child Protection Hotline that Starkeisha Brown’s son suffered from neglect and was at “substantial risk” but ultimately determined the claims to be inconclusive, according to county records obtained by The Times.

At the time, Brown had been arrested for allegedly stealing a bracelet and other items at a Macy’s department store with the child in tow. The boy stayed with his grandmother while his mother served several months in jail – and the Department of Children and Family Services closed the case file, never returning to check on the boy, the records show.

Brown reunited with the boy last year, beginning what the Los Angeles Police Department described as “unbearable psychological and physical abuse,” including cigarette burns on his body and genitals, near-starvation and beatings.

The details, contained in a DCFS report prepared for Los Angeles County supervisors this week, prompted some officials to ask why social workers didn’t have more contact with the family after that initial visit.

“I couldn’t believe it,” Supervisor Yvonne Burke said of hearing about the abuse. “Our system has to be just tighter… . This is a time when we really have to be vigilant. We need to figure out how we can get the ability to find and track down these people.”

Councilman Janice Hahn, whose district includes the South Los Angeles neighborhood where the abuse allegedly occurred, said the boy’s plight speaks to a larger problem.

“When I read what happened, it seemed like the system broke down on a number of levels. Whether it’s the criminal justice system, the welfare system, or child services,” Hahn said. “It seems to me there were a lot of red flags.”

Police said Brown, 24, and her live-in girlfriend Krystal Matthews, 21, committed the bulk of the abuse. In one tale, the 5-year-old was hung by his hands and wrists from a door jamb and whipped with some sort of leash or chain.

The pair were arrested over the weekend and charged with one count of torture and conspiracy each, as well as other charges of child abuse, corporal injury to a child and dissuading a witness. Brown’s and Matthews’ bail were set at $1.1 million and $1.08 million, respectively. If convicted, they face 25 years to life in prison.

La Tanya Monikue Jones, a 26-year-old babysitter who authorities said disfigured the boy’s hands by burning them on a hot stove, was also arrested this week and charged with conspiracy to dissuade a witness, corporal injury to a child and child abuse, among other accusations.

Authorities said Jones let her 4-year-old son and daughter, about age 6, go with Brown and Matthews to a meeting with DCFS officials last week in an attempt to trick them into thinking there was no abuse in their home.

DCFS officials have declined to comment on specifics of the case, citing confidentiality rules, but said they get involved only if a problem is reported.

ari.bloomekatz@latimes.com andrew.blankstein@latimes.com